1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a self adhesive medication reminder device. More specifically, the invention relates to a self-adhesive medication reminder device using a time indicator dial re-settable by the user.
2. Background
Millions of people annually take medications for a specific, short term illness, or over the counter medications for a specific ailment. In recent years, the incident of overdose has dramatically risen leaving the medical profession liable for damages as a result of such overdoses. With the medications needed at specific intervals, the need for a reminder of when a dosage was taken or next needs to be taken is critical. Other known devices such as U.S. PG Pub. No. 2006/0180566A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,045 are one dimensional in their approach with the only application being in conjunction with a vial provided by the pharmacy or other medical professional. Such known devices are typically bulky and overly complicated with a variety of date, day and time functions. The device(s) is more or less designed to be useful in the long term administration of medicine, as opposed to short term doses, and is not particularly adaptable to medications that come in boxes, tubes or oddly shaped bottles. Furthermore, these devices rely heavily on the long term calibration between the device and the prescription frequency on the label of the bottle itself. Other known devices attempt to provide the user with a similar result but require the wholesale transfer of the medication from the original container to a new reminder device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,422 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,439 accomplish the goal of reminding the patient of the next interval for taking the prescribed medication while sacrificing valuable prescription medication information that is typically presented on the original bottle from the pharmacist. The prescription information or directions contained on the bottle or box is important to the patient to confirm or remind the patient of the proper interval. Should a patient transfer its medication to such a device, then dispose of the original container, and then potentially forget or miss-calibrate the device, the patient could be susceptible to an overdose. In addition, such devices potentially introduce the problem of not being able to later identify the medication as it is no longer clearly identified on the label. Thus, such devices are only valuable to long term patients or chronic patients who consistently take the same medication, at the same intervals over long periods of time. Such devices do not serve the non-chronic or temporary patients well. Additionally, such devices are not readily adaptable to medications that come in boxes or tubes or are purchased over the counter.
Other known devices such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,541 attempt to yield the same results but have the (potentially) fatal flaw of rotation to the outer ring of the device thus making the device highly susceptible to unwanted or undesired movement. With the ease of change to the timing devices, a user can never be completely sure that the interval shown on the dials has not inadvertently been moved or adjusted. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,614 introduces the potential for error in use of the two dials. Should the dials be reset accidentally, the user would be left without a clear indication of when the last dose was administered and when the next dose should be administered.
Therefore, there is found a need for a reliable, inexpensive and disposable reminder device to aid in reminding patient of the intervals at which they are due to ingest specific dosages of medicine.